"
But the Vicar was not always so fruitful a talker as this. The
difficulty with him was to shift the points. There were long walks
in Mr. Sandys' company which were really of an almost nightmare
quality. He had a way of getting into a genealogical mess, in which
he used to say that it cleared the air to be able to state the
difficulties.
Howard used to grumble a little over this to Mrs. Graves. "Yes,"
she said, "if Frank were not so really unselfish a man, he would be
a bore of purest ray serene; but his humanity breaks through. I
made a compact with him long ago, and told him plainly that there
were certain subjects he must not talk to me about. I suppose you
couldn't do that?"
"No," said Howard, "I can't do that. It's my greatest weakness, I
believe, that I can't say a good-natured decisive thing, until I am
really brought to bay--and then I say much more than I need, and
not at all good-naturedly. I must get what fun out of Frank I can.
There's a good deal sprinkled about; and one comfort is that Maud
understands."
"Yes," said Mrs. Graves, "she understands! I know no one who sees
weaknesses in so absolutely clear a light as Maud, and who can at
the same time so wholly neglect them in the light of love."
"That's good news for me," said Howard, "and it is absolutely
true."
XXIX
THE CHILD
The day on which Howard learned that Maud would bear him a child
was a day of very strangely mixed emotions.
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